Worst Case Scenario

S.S. and I were discussing the challenge of investing and the vulnerable feeling of running out of money.  This type of discussion naturally evolves into probabilities, longevity, consumption, risk, and life style choices.  S.S. said the important part of this planning is developing a "worst case scenario".  Planning for your "worst case scenario" is confronting the image of  your worst fears - for example, homeless, isolated, dependant, addicted, terrorized, tortured,  etc. 

Viktor Frankl's, "Man's Search for Meaning"  and his experience in a concentration camp popped into my head at that moment.  That book, my visit to Auschwitz, and the movie Doctor Zhivago have framed some of the images I have of  a "worst case scenario".

Very coincidentally, "The Search for Meaning" appeared on the kitchen counter yesterday.  Susan (who had never read the book) had just recently ordered it from Amazon.com after reading about it recently.  I quickly re-read the book last night. 

Frankl's book provides some clues about suffering (a worst case scenario).  "A man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas.  If a certain amount of gas is pumped into a chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber.  Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little.  Therefore the 'size' of human suffering is absolutely relative."

Maybe the "Worry Box" is a precursor to the "Suffering Chamber". 


Related Blogs:
What me Worry
ScoreKeeping
Weary Worry Index
Quantify Suffering
Wasted Worry
Counting Feelings